How planning for these 3 NPO priorities can boost your productivity (and revenues) in 2014

Common this time of year is the tendency to reflect on your accomplishments and challenges, waxing nostalgic on your losses and being of good cheer about surviving it all. While you have much to be thankful for and proud of, you know there were a few things you wish you could have done better.

If you’re honest with yourself, you’d admit that with planning you could have definitely done a crucial thing or two better.

Planning and I have a To-Do list and sticky-noted love/hate relationship. My thinking is mostly future-oriented because I HATE to be caught off guard. I do anything I can think of to keep a step ahead of myself: To-Do lists; paper and electronic organizers; reminders scribbled on sticky notes plastered on my bulletin board and laptop.

I’d even leave myself planning item reminders on my personal and office phones. These tactics were helpful in keeping me on track for crucial short-term activities but the long term stuff—well admittedly, they quite often lingered on those lists and sticky notes for months, even years.

When I got around to examining them with an open mind (but trepid heart) to discover why that was, invariably the reasons (and sometimes excuses quite honestly) were because of one, two or all of the following:

1)      it was something that needed to be done but I really didn’t want to do

2)      it was something that needed to be done but I wasn’t ready to do, or

3)      it was something that needed to be done but there was no money to do it.

Now the first two usually required some personal reflection and for the most part I was able to work through the issues that stymied me.

But the last one, well, that was the most frustrating because often there wasn’t much I could do about it, especially at work because other people made those types of decisions and I had to live with the consequences.

Long-term planning at the organizations I worked with was implicitly expected but not explicitly practiced.

By virtue of the roles I played, planning was critical to the effectiveness of my job performance but what became most frustrating was that I knew that if the priority of resource development planning wasn’t built in to the overall NPO’s objectives, no amount of planning on my end could ever result in the organization meeting its sustainability benchmarks in the long run.

We’ve all heard the saying that it takes money to make money and while this tends to unnerve some NPO leaders, donors know that talking about money is necessary and even expected because they know that organizations don’t run themselves.

In fact, they expect that of any in an organization, the development office would be the one that is adequately staffed and equipped, particularly because of the challenging responsibility it holds. And that expectation includes an honest and open assessment of all the needs of the organization which assures the donor that their investments are being used not only to address critical program needs, but the operational ones that help sustain those programs.

So before you get too caught up patting yourself on the back lauding your accomplishments or get too disheartened about missing an opportunity…or two…. or three, take a moment to think about the role planning plays at your organization and how planning for these three priorities can boost your productivity (and revenue) in 2014.

1.       Conduct a development audit: This is an essential activity every development office should conduct for the NPO. Done annually, with or without a strategic planning process, it will help you identify any current or future conditions that are affecting, or could possibly affect how well you are able to achieve your fundraising goals like beginning a major gifts program, planned giving program or capital campaign.

It can help assess how effective your strategies, like special events and direct mail/newsletter appeals programs are and can help you identify development office needs including staffing and resources as well as whether or not the executive director and board members understand their roles and are performing them effectively as regards fundraising.

It’s best to begin and complete the audit as your current fiscal year is waning and the next year’s budget process is beginning, as it could take several weeks to complete and you’ll need the information garnered to make decisions including budgeting.

Conduct a web search using the key words “fundraising audit” to learn more and locate handbooks, checklists and tools to use.

2.       Continue your NPO education: Whether it be an online training series, classroom course, subscribing to industry publications or skill building with a best-selling book, ongoing, planned and scheduled professional development and education is essential to your staying abreast of trends, relevant in your competency and innovative in your strategy implementation.

There are countless opportunities and ways to engage including joining and actively participating with professional organizations, reading and contributing to online forums or just meeting for breakfast or lunch with a few colleagues to commiserate and troubleshoot.

You’ll benefit from the skills building and support, and the silo that can often be life as a nonprofit professional can seem that much less isolating. To be most effective, plan some time for assessing where you’d like to beef up your skills then research what modes of training and education you’ll need and how much it will cost.

Then you can make the case for how it can help you achieve your NPO’s objectives and why it should be included in the budget.

3.       Get or become a mentor —this was one thing I hadn’t been able to accomplish on that To-Do list and I just discovered a fourth reason why —I didn’t commit the time and effort to do so. Developing such a relationship is as necessary and mutually beneficial in succeeding as a nonprofit professional as it is a for-profit professional.

Well into my career I did finally address that deficit and became a founding member of the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Diversity Fellows program, which matched recent entrants into the field with experienced professionals. It’s gone through several cycles since and continues to be a solid success.

Through networking you casually meet people all the time, but just imagine how much more enriched you’d be professionally through a becoming a mentor or mentee. You could join an already established program, begin your own or just be open to sharing what you know with a curious, eager professional just starting out.

Make a schedule of when and where to meet or talk by phone at least monthly and set some goals you’d like to reach. Then stick to it! Consistency and a genuine interest in mutual contribution is the cement that will help build and maintain what can be an enduring professional relationship.

What priorities have you set to be your most productive self in 2014? Please share them below.